Martine's discoveries in the world of yoga

The other sort of yoga…

My blogging schedule has been very off the past few weeks, but I am back, new routine, new energy and new ideas. So to start: we have arrived in San Francisco! However, the first few weeks of our time in the US we spent amazingly in a camper, traveling to Yosemite, Sequoia National Forest, Death Valley, Vegas, Zion Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Route 66 and some beach time along Highway 1.

I had planned to do lots of yoga, running, or anything else that could keep me fit. Nature called for some amazing hikes, down into the canyon, or up to the tops of waterfalls. At every single one of them I was amazed by the beauty of this country and the vastness of the landscape. But apart from some stretches after the hikes, not much physical yoga happened.

It was either too cold in the morning (freezing), the space in the camper was literally too small (with dog plus husband), it was wet outside, there was snow outside or I had asked too much of my body already racing up down mountains.

I started to get a bit frustrated: this was the moment to really get myself into shape, to be ready for San Francisco yoga and to improve my personal practice. And then I realized, that yoga is designed for the mind. As the yoga sutra says: Yoga is designed for the mind, in order to reduce suffering and to feel better. And there I was, beating myself up over not doing the psychical element of yoga.

Once I had established this thought in my mind, I realized any moment of the day was a yoga moment. A moment to train my mind, to see how far I was able push it, or how much it tried to control me. Basically a moment to rethink and refine my chosen direction and by being in nature and making amazing walks, I was able to distract my mind from any unnecessary thoughts, fears or judgments.

The reason why I am sharing this, is because we often forget why we are doing things. What is our will and what is our mind telling us? What are our expectations and are they pursuable? What if things go different then planned? In the end, all these thoughts are in the mind, all these actions are based on what we think should be. What if we decide to let things be as they are, shift our perspective to what you have right now. Would that make you happier as a person? It most certainly did for me!! And that’s how I got content with my yoga practice, not the physical yoga we talk so often about, but yoga as a lifestyle, yoga as the way to reduce my suffering, yoga to make me feel better and also the others around me. Because ultimately, all I ever want is to feel the best I can, and isn’t that what everybody wants?